


Don't Mind It

by PolarGrizz47



Series: Hallowed Ground [1]
Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: Death, Feels, M/M, cremation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-03
Updated: 2017-06-03
Packaged: 2018-11-08 10:09:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11079414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PolarGrizz47/pseuds/PolarGrizz47
Summary: "I'm not losing ya," Knot growled, sucking in a deep breath through his clenched teeth. "You're not dying here."





	Don't Mind It

**Author's Note:**

> :3

"You're supposed to live through this," Knot snapped, busy digging through the small medkit he kept in one of his harness bags. He pressed Orca's hand tighter against the man's own abdomen, eyes narrowed with concentration. "Keep pressure there, idiot."

"Easy now," The other man wheezed, smiling at his friend with bloodied lips. Mud speckled his glasses, the smell of the sea and the pressure of a nearby storm on the air. "Supposed to be helpin' me here, eh?"

Knot ground his teeth together in frustration as he grabbed the rest of his gauze, folding it up and moving Orca's hands away. He struggled to open the already ripped uniform, tugging it away to better expose the other's sweaty, tanned skin. "I’m no medic," He grumbled, "Ya got a hold blasted right through ya." 

The white of the bandage immediately stained to red as Knot pressed it to the wound, feeling the skin and the organs give way under his hand. Orca writhed, a grunt of pain choked back by a stubborn, weak laugh. Dark eyes narrowed as the other watched, his hands pushed close to the bleeding. 

"How’s the pain?" Knot grumbled, pulling one hand away to grab Orca's, encouraging the man to hold himself as instructed earlier.

His throat clicked as he swallowed, tasting copper on his tongue, but Orca managed a blood-rimmed smile. "Mostly numb now."

A brief nod, expression twisting into worry. "That's just the adrenaline, eh, China?" Knot stood up, clicking at the radio strapped to his harness. It gave a hiccup of static and a distant chatter, people talking over one another. Many other men were probably wounded in the skirmish, a few dead - a few more soon to join them in paradise. 

He slid his gaze over to Orca, watching the man lay there, sweating and panting. He hoped Orca wouldn't find those white sandy beaches yet. 

"Anything?" Orca rasped out, turning his head a bit as Knot crouched down beside him. When his friend shook his head, he grunted, "You need to find Nadine," before he patted his friend on the chest, slyly trying to push him away.

"She's with that tiny fucker," Knot grumbled, catching Orca's hand by the wrist, fingers immediately checking the pulse. He let out a grunt, releasing the other's hand in favor of pressing his fingertips to Orca's throat. "Boss is in better shape than your sorry ass. Why do ya have to be so damn reckless?"

The larger man turned the other cheek, lips quirked into a knowing smirk. "You know you  _ like _ it."

Knot's lips thinned. "I like it when you aren't fuckin' dying."

-:-

"Mother fucker," Orca gasped, his hand iron tight around Knot's bicep as they walked. The other hand was draped over his friend's shoulders and he was hunched over, blood staining his clothes and dripping against his boots as they moved. It was just a brief walk, Orca dragging his feet the entire way until they reached the edge of an old building. As good a shelter as any.

Knot helped him sit with his back against the wall and Orca sagged forwards, breathing heavily.

"Keep talking," Knot growled, keeping one hand clutched at Orca's forearm, keeping him propped up. 

There was a laugh, then a rough cough. "I think I'm hurt bad." 

Knot sat back on his heels while narrowing his eyes. "You'll live."

"I don't like liars," Orca rasped, keeping his grip on Knot's arm, watching the other man's face twist in discomfort.

-:-

"Ya aren't dyin' here," Knot hissed, shaking Orca awake with a violent motion. "Ya hear me, China?" He waited until he heard his friend's chest rattle with a breath before kneeling down closer. His hands checked the wound again, the ruined bandage, and the thready pulse.

It's changed from last time, and not for the better. His hand came back smeared in fresh red as he adjusted the bandages, and he cursed under his breath when Orca groaned in pain. Lesser men would already be delirious. 

"Maybe," His voice was choppy with a wet cough, "Maybe death isn't as scary as people say..." Orca struggled to lift his hand to his face, grumbling as he pushed the glasses up his forehead and into his hairline. His eyes looked bloodshot and he even managed to look  _ somehow _ paler without the tone of the glasses aiding him.

Knot swallowed and shook his head, pressing a hand into the grass underneath them, leaning over Orca with a frown. "Stop talkin' like that, we'll have more men sent out here soon, with supplies."

"Nothin' wrong with death," Orca whispered, his expression strained as he sat up some, looking at Knot with weathered eyes. "I've seen plenty of it..." He grabbed onto Knot's shirt and tugged him closer, eyes narrowing with worry until he spat, "Awe, fuck."

"What?" The other rushed out, placing a hand against Orca's shoulder as his friend slumped back against the wall. "What is it?"

He couldn't find a good reason to tell him the truth, so Orca just blinked and smirked. He didn't think he'd get out of this one, and his failing vision reflected that. Too much blood long gone, he already felt faint.

"Nothin'," Orca whispered, keeping his fingers intertwined with the warm material of Knot's uniform. "I... I don't mind  _ this _ ," He managed, struggling for a deep breath, heels digging into the soft soil as he lazily shifted. 

"Mind what? Bleeding -"

"Dyin'... here, on this island," He clarified, clearing his throat for a blessed moment only to lurch and hack out red. Knot's heart felt tight and his nose crinkled with discomfort. He couldn't do a lot to help ease the suffering, and he wasn't about to put a bullet in the only good thing he hadn't thrown away. 

Orca's hand moved up Knot's shirt, leaving marks of red stains, but the other man leaned into it. His expression softened as Orca's hand closed around the nape of his neck, tugging him closer. 

"It's okay, Jacob," He whispered, feeling Knot's shoulders relax as the other man curled towards him.

"I'm not losing ya," Knot growled, sucking in a deep breath through his clenched teeth. "You're not dying here."

-:-

The men weren't going to make it in time. They'd been hit hard and had almost half their unit in need of medical attention. There weren't even enough left to care for the wounded, many of which had already died. 

Knot's stomach felt wavy, his throat tight. The smell of blood coupled with the sound of Orca struggling for breath made the man's head roll. 

This wasn't supposed to happen... they were  _ stronger _ than this. Then a simple bullet had to break the foundation of a great partnership. 

"Hey," Knot whispered, giving Orca a shake and only letting up as the man coughed and groaned. He opened his eyes, but Knot noticed how they looked right through him. 

They shared a moment of silence before Orca smiled, blood had long ago stained his lips and got into his beard. "Jacob... c'mere... gimme somethin'," He rasped, lifting his arm and smiling wider as Knot led his palm back to the shoulders.

He tugged Knot down but had the feeling that Knot was just letting him feel strong in these last moments. "S'okay," Orca reassured, pulling the other man closer still. He could feel his friend's chest rise and fall with a heavy sigh, a sorrowful sound. "Relax, China," The older man urged, feeling Knot's warm breath against his cheek. "Just want -"

Knot pressed their lips together without further instruction, tasting blood and sweat on his tongue as he desperately moved his mouth against Orca's. The older man’s gloved hand tangled into Knot’s hair, thumb swiping against the sensitive skin on the base of his friend’s skull. Orca found himself thinking that he’d miss _this_ , he’d miss Jacob. 

Knot closed his eyes, relishing the long kiss, memorizing every detail and curve of Orca’s lips under his mouth. His hand swept over the other’s chin, feeling the scrape of the beard against his scarred, bloodied palm. A childish part of him wanted to be able to breathe life into the other mercenary, but the cold hard truth was nothing magical.

It was just  _ goodbye _ .

-:-

He sat there calmly, his hand still over Orca's face, fingertips against his friend's eyelids. Eyes closed, body cold. Knot swallowed, ignoring the hot, tiny splashes of water that against his knees from his cheeks as he held Orca's head in his lap. 

"You god damned fool," Knot choked out, his voice harsh and angry.

-:-

Nadine leveled her gaze at Knot, watching her right-hand man sternly. "We've lost a lot of men today, and I know this is hard, but right now there's just not enough time."

His lips twitched, baring his teeth without any thought. "I know that, ma'am... I'm just askin' for one thing. Nothin' fancy."

They stared at each other for a long, silent moment and Nadine made to shake her head. Knot snarled loudly, stepping closer to her personal bubble, close enough for her to reach him if she wanted too. They stared at each sharply, prepared to defend themselves. 

"I've given you everything, ma'am. Just give me  _ this _ ... s'all I'm askin'," He muttered, letting out a low sort of grumble as his voice cracked. 

She shifted her stance, fists clenched. Finally, her hands relaxed, and with a nod, she said, "We do this tonight. I'll drive us out."

-:-

"Where the hell are you guys going?" Rafe hissed lowly as he walked beside Nadine, watching as Knot pulled a bloody, blue tarp over the backseat. 

She wheeled on him, eyes wild and angered as she calmly explained, "We are going out. We'll be back before daybreak."

"No, we are finishing this now. We are so close to finding this treasure -"

"I don't give a shit about your damned treasure!" Nadine's voice rose and then fell into a whisper, "You order me around like that again, and you'll be  _ joining _ my dead men. Do you understand me?" 

Rafe swallowed thickly, staring at her blankly until she stepped forwards, urging him to nod quickly, a spark of fear coming alive in his gaze.

"Good. Now, go back to your tent, and make plans for the morning move." With that, Nadine stalked towards the jeep, glancing at the backseat before she pulled open the driver's side door. Knot sat beside her, staring into the darkness of the forest.

-:-

He said nothing throughout the entire trip out, but Nadine did not pressure him. She'd lost people before too, although it had been a long while since she had allowed somebody to get that close to her. 

She parked at a nice clearing, flanked by a forest on the left and an open cliffside to the sea on the right. Without a word, they left the jeep to search for dry wood. It took them about an hour, both tossing it into a pile in the center of the clearing. The sky above them began to turn into a deep, dark black.

Knot finally stood by their impressive pile, arranging a few sticks into better formation before he glanced towards Nadine. She nodded and they both moved towards the jeep. Together they pulled the blue tarp off the backseat, revealing the body laid out there. Knot stared at his friend for a long moment, his hand crunching the tarp loudly.

She couldn’t help but take stock of his injuries. There was so much blood all over Orca’s front and lips that it was hard to decipher the cause of death. She guessed that he’d been shot under the ribs, the bullet ricocheting inside his ribcage, leading to a swift bleed out. He couldn’t have been alive for more than an hour, but it had taken her men three hours to finally track them down, and by the time they'd gotten there it'd been far too late.

Knot cleared his throat and after some maneuvering, she held onto Orca's legs as Knot held his front. 

He was carried over and laid out onto the sticks. They straightened him out, arms folded across his chest and legs together. Knot stood over his body with a furrowed brow, tongue pinched between his teeth as he looked over Orca's form.

"I know he's gone," The man muttered, breathing deeply through his nose as they looked down at the body. "But he looks... smoother. Less worried." Nadine noticed the swell of water in his eyes but did not dare comment. "People seem more  _ peaceful _ in death."

Nadine nodded in agreement, memories of her father's body crossing her mind. He seemed more peaceful then, too, even with all the blood.

She turned her back as Knot pulled a handkerchief from a pouch on his harness and began cleaning up the worse of the blood on Orca's face. He paused as he swiped over Orca's lips, holding his breath to control a rise of sudden emotion, even it choked him momentarily. He refused to cry in front of his boss and oldest friend. 

When Knot looked up again, away from Orca's smoothed expression, he nodded at Nadine with a stern look on his painted features. They grabbed the tools from the back of the jeep; a shovel, fire starter and a shoreline blanket. It was worn and torn at the seams, but Knot had grabbed it from his own bunk. It felt  _ wrong _ burning Orca's matching fleece. It smelled like Orca too, and Knot was too selfish to destroy the warm, trusty blanket.

He draped the black blanket caringly over Orca's body, smoothing his hand over Shoreline's tiny crest at a corner of the cover. 

They stood there for a long time, Knot's hand on the blanket, both quiet, understanding. 

His hand dropped, and they grabbed the fire starter.

-:-

 Knot stood by himself, his eyes closed as he listened to the fire crackle. He could feel its warmth even from far away, and he was tempted to move closer, but his feet remained rooted to the spot.

Nadine watched the smoke and the flickers of flames drift into the night sky. The stars were bright above the island and the moon offered plenty of lighting while the sound of waves made the silence bearable. There was no shame in death, there was no shame in mourning. Her eyes drifted to Knot's back, watching him carefully.

When the flames started to die down, Nadine pulled her pistol from her holster. She lifted it into the air, pointed the muzzle towards the sea, and fired off one solitary shot into the night sky.

The crack of the gunfire brought forth a strange mixture of closure and confrontation in Knot's gut. He had not asked her to fire a salute for Orca. 

It took him a moment before he turned towards the leader of Shoreline. He met her gaze easily, eyes shining in the amber glow of the fire in front of him. She held his intense gaze for a long while before he finally gave her a firm nod. 

Nadine returned the nod easily, holstering her weapon. She felt as if that simple motion met more than the many conversations they've had throughout the years.

Hours passed, and the fire was crackling to its last embers. Knot watched those carefully, their bright red chunks still stubbornly clinging to life even as their end drew nearer. He could not bring himself to smash them out with the shovel, so Nadine stood by him as slow darkness crept into the pit of ash.

-:-

He watched the sun rise from the cliffside. Keen eyes watching the darkness give way to a mixture of bright orange and yellow, the colors dancing across the waves like a mirage. His lips quirked into a smile, but he said nothing. Soon enough, he walked back towards the ashes. Nadine had given him the shell casing of the honor shot, and with a sigh, he crouched down by the pit of remains. He waved his palm slowly across them, barely avoiding touching them in his movements. It brought him some sort of peace when he felt the warmth there in those embers still. Tentatively scooped the shell through the black and gray ashes, watching them fill the void inside the casing. Once it was filled, he placed his thumb over the opening and stood.

He did not want to leave a marker. Did not want to place the wrong name to the wrong ashes.

Quietly, he got into the jeep where Nadine was waiting and held the bullet close to his chest.

Knot tipped his head back against the seat, closed his eyes and tried not to let the smokey smell on his clothes distract him.

_ God damn it,  _ he thought with another swell of emotions in his throat,  _ Ya left me. _

 -:- 

It had been many months since Orca died on the island, but still, Knot had not come to her with words of struggling sorrow. Nadine took no pain in that. After all, she did not talk about her father’s final gruesome moments. She did not talk about how it still haunted her, about how much she found herself missing his simple presence.

She turned her head and watched Knot bark out orders under the hellish sun of the savannah, the light glinting off a familiar pair or sunglasses that did not  _ originally _ belong to her right-hand man. 

Nadine knew that he wore two pairs of dog tags, and kept an enclosed bullet in his pocket. She’d seen its golden casing only once since the fire, but she had noticed the three little letters carved into its shell.

_ Ray. _

**Author's Note:**

> :D
> 
> I'm starting a collection of death scenes for my fav ships in Uncharted so... gonna kick it off with my very favorite mercs.


End file.
